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Saturday, July 5, 2014

Dr. John MacArthur sums up salvation in 5 terms

Dr. John MacArthur sums up salvation in 5 termsColossians 1:20-22 "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."

Introduction:Today's post features an excerpt from a sermon preached by pastor and Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur years ago entitled: "Reconciled to God". In the portion quoted below, Dr. MacArthur is summing up for readers and listeners what the doctrine of reconciliation and salvation is all about. If anyone has ever listened to Dr. MacArthur's preaching or teaching or has ever read his books, you know that what he has to say is always good because it comes from God's book and is anointed by the Spirit of God. The link to the full manuscript of this message is at the following link: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2136/reconciled-to-god

Thus without further delay I give you the excerpt from Dr. MacArthur's sermon: "Reconciled to God".

"Now I want to talk about the theology of reconciliation for just a moment, if I can, because it's needful that you understand it. In the New Testament, I'm trying to sum this down or draw this down to just the simplest way I can. There are probably five terms that summarize our salvation, and you ought to jot them down. Five terms that summarize our salvation. And you can talk about these five terms in various ways throughout the New Testament. They're illustrated and elucidated to us many times.

Five terms, here they are, and I'll go over them again so you don't need to worry about writing them all at once. Justification, redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation and son­ship, or adoption, same thing.

All right, let's look at the first one. The first term that's used to summarize our salvation is the term justification. In justification, and I'm just going to say it briefly so stay in there, in justification the sinner stands before God as the accused and is declared righteous. In justification, the sinner stands before God as the accused and is declared righteous.

The second term is redemption. In redemption, the sinner stands before God as a slave and is granted freedom by a ransom. In redemption, the sinner stands before God as the slave and is granted freedom by ransom.

The third term that summarizes our salvation is forgiveness. In forgiveness, the sinner stands before God as a debtor and the debt, having been paid, is forgotten. In forgiveness, the sinner stands before God as a debtor, and the debt having been paid is forgotten.

Fourth, is reconciliation. And this is beautiful. In reconciliation the sinner stands before God as an enemy and becomes a friend. Peace with God is made. In reconciliation, the sinner stands before God as an enemy, and is led to peace as a friend.

Fifthly, the term sonship summarizes our salvation. In sonship, I love this, the sinner stands before God as a stranger and is made a son. The sinner stands before God as a stranger and is made a son. Think of it. We stood before God as the accused and He declared us righteous. We stood before God as a slave and He granted us freedom. We stood before God as a debtor and He forgot our debt. We stood before God as an enemy and He made us a friend. We stoodbefore God as a stranger and He called us a son. Now that sums it up, people. That sums up salvation."